10 Harmless Comics Villains Who Became Badasses

Joke villains have long been a staple of any good comic franchise. From Crazy Quilt to Armless Tiger Man, it's hard to not get a kick out of purposefully silly characters, be they for comic relief, or just to have a weak villain for the hero to destroy.

But this doesn't mean that joke villains have to stay that way forever. Everybody loves an underdog story, after all, and what's more of an underdog story than seeing Stilt-Man or Clock King develop and evolve until they're actually cool characters in their own right?

It doesn't always have to be a case of becoming stronger or more powerful, either - sometimes just seeing a minor villain get a more complex story arc than you'd expect is enough for them to feel way more badass than they were in the first place, because suddenly they have way more of a purpose and place in the universe.

In franchises where characters are capable of destroying worlds and leveling mountains, sometimes it's just nice to see someone who was supposed to be a weak joke become something more meaningful - even if they have a dumb name like Typeface, or Glob.

Proving that V is for Vendetta doesn't have the monopoly on anarchist comic characters, Anarky was always an interesting character, but became significantly more badass after the New 52 reboot - partially due to him losing the martial arts abilities he had, and also due to him having a significantly more interesting feature in the events of Detective Comics: Endgame.

Weirdly, taking away Lonnie's enhanced abilities definitely made him feel more badass - as the idea of a powerless character still trying to better the world feels a lot more engaging than someone who is strong enough that there's practically no danger in them getting in fights.

Perhaps more importantly, the updated outfit looks a lot better, as the overdramatic red bodysuit is replaced with far more tactical looking getup - although one that still mercifully keeps the iconic golden mask. For all Anarky may now look like a rejected X-Men design, he also looks more like someone who would actually exist in Gotham as a weird underground anarchist fighter - instead of someone who looks like he is wearing a red monogrammed dressing gown outside.